My son and girlfriend have just announced that they are getting not one but two kittens.  They have been to the rescue centre and are having two female kittens from the same litter.  Is there any down side to having two kittens from the same litter? 

Twice the mess ?

My parents had 2 kittens from the same litter and they were actually fine...From what I can remember as it was a very long time ago. I would think it would definitely be easier than having 2 puppies at the same time. My parents kittens were sisters too and they did everything together. There was one who was particularly mischevious and always lead the other astray but I dont think they were too much trouble to be honest.

Cats are generally better in pairs than singles, especially if they're kittens together.

I got two cats in the summer (they were nearly a year old) and they are great, they keep each other company and play together. Its not like dogs where you want to create a bond so that they will obey commands, cats do their own thing anyway :-D My daughter bought me a little sign with the saying "Dogs have Masters - Cats have Staff"  :-D its very, very true!! Probably a sensible idea to have two but yes there is twice the mess and twice the food.

And twice the litter trays ...

Exactly :-D but at least they do both use them :-D That's what the Staff are for :-D :-D

None IMHO they are not like puppies that you are housetraining & bonding with them very closely , cats are by nature far more independant that dogs & my two were very close when they were little & now team up on hunting missions, ambushing the dogs in tandem ;-)

No downsides except for twice the vet bills for vax & neutering !

Cats definitely have staff !

Far better than one. I love nothing more than when kitten buyers get a pair of littermates, it's ideal. :)

I've noticed that most cat rescues round here will only home kittens in pairs, or into a house that already has a cat.
I had two kittens together. I went to see them at the rescue and couldn't choose between them (they were the last two) so we took them both. Sadly one died earlier this year but I've always loved watching them play and snuggle up together. Have fun :-)

Yes I'd agree with what others have said; two from the same litter should be great mates, in kittenhood at least. We have three kittens at the moment, two littermates and their cousin, and they are such great buddies it's very cute.

Cats are definatly better in twos and IMHO there is something magical about littermates. Their bond is more special that 2 cats of no relation.

Oh well that is a good thing - I do have a lot of negative feelings about this announcement - they are expecting a baby in Feb and I have such dreadful fears of cats getting in the cot and smothering babies - I just feel it is the wrong time to take on 2 cats. Never mind the fact that Meg will never get on with them, they will be forever taunting her outside the window and leaving poo for her to roll in as well as hunting the birds that I like to feed and watch.  We had a cat for years - had her the same time as our first dog and they grew up together.  However when she died I so enjoyed encouraging the birds down to the garden I said I would never have another cat.   As for their parrot!  His beak will be out of joint I am sure - I cringe at the possibilities there.  Yes I worry too much - it is their life and their choice.  I just need some time to get used to the idea.  Trouble is I spoke too soon to my daugher-not-in-law!!!  and upset her last night with my negativity. 
I don't think youngsters see the downside of things that much anyway.  Take the other pair - they have just found out that cars need water and oil to make them go besides petrol! Cost my daughter £50 for the garage to fill up her car with water and tell her there was nothing wrong with it.  Meanwhile son-in-law was driving her car with oil light flashing!  Difficult not to worry really!

Ceejay, they are grown ups. let them make their own mistakes.
Cats are very independant and bar the feeding and cleaning a litter tray for them and obviously medical attention they are more or less self sufficient.
Im sure they will be just as observant with the cats to check baby is ok as they are with Meg too. How do you know Meg willnever get on with them?! As we've heard on here before cats have the ability to be trained and do as they are told. My parents had cats before they had children and my sister and I are still here - we were not suffocated.
I can see your worry but really, chill :-)

As far as the "other pair" go, so OK they arent doing their car much good & its going to cost them money to repair but hey ho, let them learn that lesson for themselves. I would let that sort of thing go right over your head!! Lifes too short and stress is a killer. Dont worry :-)

Oh well that is a good thing - I do have a lot of negative feelings about this announcement - they are expecting a baby in Feb and I have such dreadful fears of cats getting in the cot and smothering babies - I just feel it is the wrong time to take on 2 cats.

That's an old wives tale, nothing else! Absolute rubbish. And if they really were worried, just shut the door. :) The one thing they DO need to consider is that pregnant women must not handle cat litter, especially not if the cats are moggies that have been allowed to go outside.

They did know about the cat litter thing thankfully.  When my two were small we had a cat net to put over the pram so that the baby could safely sleep outside - as did my Mum before me (not that it would have kept a determined cat out anyway come to think of it).  And they (babies that is!)  were put outside whenever the weather was suitable.  These days my grandchildren seem to be left to sleep in their car seats outside the house with a window left open.  How things change!  And who do you think they all call for when cars break down, animals need to be cared for etc!   Nice to have them close by though - very lucky there.  Must do yoga more than once a week :-)

The only problem I ever had with babies and cats is the queen would tell me off something dreadful if I left a baby to cry.

It is nice having two kittens together have done that several times.

The bonus with a cat and a small baby is if you are really too busy or tired  (god  I remember that feeling of exhaustion!!) the cat can take care of them selves for a bit.

We had one lovely ginger tom who would bring the children presents. I lost count of the number of ( live) field mice I found in the Lego box, don't know why, but it was always the Lego box!!!

When my little bruv was a baby the cat loved to lie on him - nice and warm I suppose :-D - but it never caused any problems, and they grew up together as best buddies - the tried to teach him how to catch mice. :-P

bilbobaggins- when I was reading your post I almost expected you to say 'if you are really too busy or tired the cat can take care of THE BABY!!' That would have made me laugh. The responses would have been varied I am sure :-)

Kittens love company, I have always bought mine in pairs, never had any problems. :-)

> 'if you are really too busy or tired the cat can take care of THE BABY!!'  :-)

She would probably have taught them to stay clean better than I did

especially not if the cats are moggies that have been allowed to go outside.

this is a very snobby comment marianneB, what about pedigrees that go outdoors?

the guideline for pregnant women is they are generally fine to clean trays as long as they wear gloves, clean hands afterwards and always clean the tray before the toilet has lain for 24hours.

>what about pedigrees that go outdoors?

People are more likely to keep their pedigree cats safe in their house with an outside run, rather than let them take their chances with the traffic.

Saw them today.  One is a tabby and marched straight up to me and tried to climb my trousers - she has diarrohea but inspite of a messy bottom seemed perky enough - was drinking anyway.  The other had less pattern and kept in her box and was shy.  They have come from the rescue centre.  Well I will fall in love with them until they start hunting round my bird feeder!  They have time to get established because our house won't be finished for a year at least.

im sorry but they are cats, they enjoy going outside (providing its a safe area). cats need their own space and time to be the wild independent creatures they are. dont get me wrong, i love my cat to pieces (a gorgeous "moggy") and he is very cuddly in the house but i recognise he needs his own time to be a cat and do his own thing.

I'd just like to add suz1985 that Marianne has 'moggies' as well as pedigree cats so there's certainly nothing snobby about her.      I cannot understand why anyone would want to let their cats out into the perils of day to day life, do you think it's fair for a cat to die slowly having been under the wheels of a car?  These kittens I have here, will only be sold into inside homes.

this is a very snobby comment marianneB, what about pedigrees that go outdoors?

Not snobby at all, most pedigree breeders would never sell to homes where the cats were allowed to go outside, obviously breeding cats CANNOT be allowed to roam outdoors, and unless they have been outdoors there is no risk of toxoplasmosis from cats. :)

i think if your going to be a cat owner you have to accept cats for what they are, they are not mini dogs, they are highly developed independent animals who enjoy being outside roaming and having a bit of freedom. im not saying all cats should be out,  obviously if you live in a built up area then its not ideal, but should you really be having a cat at all if you cant let them do as they were intended? my cat is allowed out, into garden, and only during the day. i live in a rural area, with no roads around, and my cat loves his daily outings. i cant imagine keeping him indoors, i would be denying him a joy.

I'd just like to add suz1985 that Marianne has 'moggies' as well as pedigree cats so there's certainly nothing snobby about her.

Thank you Christine. :) I have always had moggies, since 1977, always rescues, and always will have a couple, alongside my pedigrees -thee is always room for another couple of cats that are in need of homes. :)

Let me tell everyone a little story that happened a month ago. I was visiting relatives. They have cats. They let them go outside as they stayed in their garden. As we drove up towards their house, we noticed two dogs running loose in the road. Akitas -although I have to state here it could really have been any large breed. Just as we stopped the car the dogs ran into my relatives' FRONT garden as their gate had been left open -quite possibly by the postman or milkman. Suddnely a black thing took off and the dogs chased after, into next door's garden -again the gate was open. Turned out it was one of my relatives' cats. In front of our eyes those dogs tore that cat to pieces. The dogs OWNERS stood and watched, half heartedly calling the dogs. There was nothing I could do, I had nothing of any sort to try to scare the dogs off with and there was no way I was going to approach two large dogs I had never met with my bare hands, in this situation.

Just one reason, and a recent experience, for why it is not a good idea to let cats go outside unless you have a secure run (like we do). This poor girl was in her owner's own garden and yet she got killed. :(

i cant imagine keeping him indoors, i would be denying him a joy.

My rescued mogs know they are better off indoors and safe in the run attached to the house -nothing bad happens here and food is freely available -unlike when they were strays. They had no problems adjusting to indoor life despite having been outdoor cats before.

It's also not only just the dangers of dogs, foxes (and here, fox hunts with their dogs), cars etc. What about other cats? You can vaccinate against feLV, not against FIV (or FIA), and your cat can get infected by another cat, look well for several years, infect other cats he or she meets if they get into a scrap and break skin, and so it spreads more and more and more -and it is always fatal.

how do you know your rescues know theyre better off indoors??
im a veterinary nurse so i do know about FIV. Where i stay my boy is only cat around, and as ive said, he tends to stay in back garden, which is completely fenced in (he is able to jump it obv) but he prefers to stay in garden and chase flies. as a kitten i would take him out on his harness in garden, and didnt let him off on his own until he was 7-8months, by which time he was happy to stay around. he only gets out during daylight and only when im in house, if im going out i call him back in (has a better recall than my dog lol) my RR is usually in garden with him, so i dont have worries about other dogs coming in. he goes days without going out, hes mostly an indoor cat through his own choice but when its nice weather he loves being out.

A long-term FIV Monitoring Project was carried out at Glasgow Veterinary School over a number of years and the results indicated that a higher percentage of FIV negative cats died during the period of the study than FIV positive cats! A fourteen year study by Maureen Hutchison B.Sc, BVMS, MRCVS (veterinary adviser to the Cat Action Trust and to Cat Chat) found that FIV-positive cats are more likely to die by being killed in road accidents or to be alive and well into their twilight years than they are to die from any FIV related condition. Also, a recent survey by Dr Diane D. Addie (Lecturer in Veterinary Virology, University of Glasgow) where 26 cats were monitored for ten years, found that FIV infection did not affect the cats' life expectancy.

Please either post the  link or give credit to source copying and pasting snippets without doing so is against the terms of service.

sorry! taken from http://www.catchat.org/fiv.html

how do you know your rescues know theyre better off indoors??

Because they no longer WANT to go out. Outside meant cold, nasty dogs, lack of food, nasty people -inside meant security form all of that.

It sounds like your back garden is fairly secure -that I would have no problem with. However you still say your cat can jump the fence and that I'd still worry about.

A fourteen year study by Maureen Hutchison B.Sc, BVMS, MRCVS (veterinary adviser to the Cat Action Trust and to Cat Chat) found that FIV-positive cats are more likely to die by being killed in road accidents or to be alive and well into their twilight years than they are to die from any FIV related condition. Also, a recent survey by Dr Diane D. Addie (Lecturer in Veterinary Virology, University of Glasgow) where 26 cats were monitored for ten years, found that FIV infection did not affect the cats' life expectancy.

I have a lot of respect for Diane Addie (there are just a few things I disagree with her on, but that's mainly to do with FIP so not relevant here) but 26 cats aren't a lot -and I certainly know people who HAVE lost cats young directly due to being FIV+. I know people who specialise in rescuing only FIV positive cats, so they can be kept together, and no, they do not live normal lifespans. In any event -hardly responsible to let a positive cat go outside and potentially infect lots of other cats, is it..........Do you blood test your cat regularly to make sure? Do ANY cat owner who allows their cat outside access? Can you KNOW it will NEVER meet another cat? It's Russian Roulette.

>they are highly developed independent animals who enjoy being outside roaming and having a bit of freedom.

Yep, just as dogs used to be 50 years ago. Now the increase in traffic has made that a really stupid thing to do.

The really responsible cat owners, especially urban ones, make sure that their garden is escape-proof, so that the cat can enjoy the outdoors as a dog can, yet is safe. I see more roadkill cats on rural roads than urban ones - although I've seen a few of those too.

My dad is 49 & has lived in the same street all his life. This is a main road and over the years the volume of traffic has increased. There has only been a brief 6 month period where we have been without a cat, the rest of the time there has always been two & in my Dads family home they always had at least 2 iuf not more cats
We have never had a cat ran over. Why? Because the cats were allowed out and enjoy thier freedom but were never allowed out the front where the main road is.
We've heard many storys on here about people training cats so it is possible.
Yes dogs were free roamers in the past and although they are more domesticated now, they are still taken out for walks/exercise/fresh air. I would never deny that to my cat.
Cats and dogs are completely different creatures and denying a cat their freedom is denying them what comes natural and IMO opinion giving them a boring and unfair existance.

We have six cats at home.  We have at 18 year old Siamese x who has always been allowed out...she goes no further than the front or back garden, she has always been like this.  Our 16 year old cat died a few years back now and she was always allowed out to roam but we lived next to an allotment and she's spend her days hunting (she even killed my rabbit!)  I rescued a Persian (she was found roaming around a trading estate) I've had her 6 years and tried my best to keep her in but you can't, she is the most unhappy cat if not allowed outside her son also is allowed out.  We also have 3 Devon Rex's...now to whoever said cats are not mini-dogs...please meet a few Devon's!!  They come when called, play fetch, follow you around, screech if you don't talk to them immediately when you walk through the door...the list goes on lol!!  The Devon's don't go outside and when I bought them this was a requirement from the breeder and I will always stick to it. 

We bought 2 Devon's together, tragically one died after 3 days and we really didn't want to leave one Devon by himself so we bought another as a playmate for him, 1 year later we added a girl and they are like the 3 amigo's...they are together all the time and really enjoy each others company.

I think a cat's behaviour/life has a lot to do with what they are used to. Both my rescue girls (persian X's) have lived indoors all their lives. I have always lives in flats (until now) and both girls have never been outside (unless to the vet, in their carry boxes). I have had them both since they were very, very young (their Mum died at 2wks) and had to make the decision as to whether they were going to be 'outside' kitties. I personally don't think a cat has the insight to know what they are missing out on. I AM NOT saying cats aren't intelligent, however they don't have the ability to think 'geee i wish i could go outside' when they don't know what outside is!! I have a problem with outside cats being turned into inside cats, as they have then experienced outside life and may pine for it. I could leave every window and door open in my house and neither of my girls would leave the house. They are happy with cupboards, beds, cat climbers and toys to keep them occupied. Saying that, they both sleep allll day anyway, and play at night :-)

> I think a cat's behaviour/life has a lot to do with what they are used to.

I agree.
My cat, for the first 2 years of her life was stricly a house cat, I could leave a door or window open and she may sit & look out but wouldn't want to go out. I had the stupid notion it would be nice for her to  play in the garden while I hung the washing so started to take he out with me. At first she would sit by the door waiting to go in, in time she would venture all the way to the end of the patio (10 ft from the door)......then onto the grass.....then to the bottom of the garden......She eventually looked to go out and now she screams her head off to go outside, but she has got so brave now she leaves our garden.
I wish I hadn't taken her out - she was happy inside for 2 years. I had 2 cats before, one just never came home (i suspect he must have been run over), the other cat got run over right outside my front door.
My current cat stays out the back (just gardens that way - no roads), I am hoping it stays like this.
I think most cats are perfectly happy being 'house cats' if that's how they are raised. Now my cat has been allowed out I couldn't keep her in but it is a constant worry :(

Both my cats started life as outdoor cats and are now only indoor cats.  Midge is 14 now and I had her as a rescue at 2 years of age.  She had been a stray and although she did go out she much prefered the comforts of home. 

Around 4 years ago she decided that she didn't really want to go out anymore and I'm afraid I didn't listen to her and put her out. The result of this was that she climbed the highest tree in the neighbourhood and wailed for 4 hours whilst I tried to call her down, she was crying and I was crying and in the end I decided there was nothing I could do and went back in the house.  Of course she beat me to it with a big smug smile on her face so I have never put her out since.

Rubin is 10 now and I had him from a kitten and he always loved to go out.  He used to start meaowing from around 5.30 in the morning to be let out and would scratch his nails on the glass of the french doors so they made that horrid noise. In the couple of months before we left NZ I noticed that when he came home at night he would be shaking quite badly and I was finding big scabs on his belly.  He still wanted to go out but seemed quite stressed and unhappy as I think he was getting beat up by younger cats.  When we came back to the UK I decided that he wasn't going to go out any more and he's a lot happier for it and has never asked to go out.

There's always going to be a debate on this but I think you just have to take your own circumstances into account and do what is best for your own cats, after all if you make them unhappy they will soon let you know.

I agree loonamoona.. we all know what makes are kitties happy and they are quick to tell us if something is up!

I had a phone call from a scout leader the other night, my cat Delilah was following him and his scout troop on their night hike, he thought I might like to come and collect her because they were walking to the next village and she was quite happily trotting along with them yowling her head off (she is a cross tonkinese) she usually walks with me and the dogs but obviously thought this was great, people hunting at night with her !!!

There is no way I could keep her in, she lives out most of the time at the old farmhouse at the back of me in their out buildings, sometimes im lucky if I see her once a week !!!  If I shut her in she screams her head off and tries to climb out 2nd floor windows !!  Rupert my moggy tends to stay closer to home, he sleeps in the dog kennel if it rains and on the shed roof if its sunny, if he is out at night he might stray a bit further but im lucky as im surrounded by farmland (they wear reflective collars to stop them getting shot by lampers !!)

ClairyS- that is adorable! Did they make her an honorary scout?! My parents cats (who live on a farm) follow my mum everywhere in the garden. When I used to ride horses they would walk down the field to the arena and watch me ride, my own mini audience ;-) One of them used to jump onto the horse (with rugs on) and try and go to sleep - scary but true!

I have a friend who lives in the country in the middle of the Cambridgeshire Fens and both her cats were victims of car's travelling up & down the Fen lanes - so no cat is safe anywhere.

I had a cat killed on the road a few years ago.  I live in a rural area, on a smallholding with only one very quiet lane near, but my cat still got killed.  I have 2 cats now, the youngest has never been out and the other is just happy being indoors.  They have a secure run and they're in that most days.  Can't imagine letting one of my cats out now - I'd be a nervous wreck!